


When the Sun Goes Down

by scarletsptember



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Explicit Language, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-05-10
Updated: 2011-07-09
Packaged: 2017-10-19 05:53:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/197650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletsptember/pseuds/scarletsptember
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ex-NOPD Detective turned PI/Occult Specialist Jensen Ackles knows more about the world than most people care to even dream about. He sees what lurks at the corner of your vision, he's part of an underground supernatural community in New Orleans. When a local detective calls him in to aide on what is believed to be a serial killing Jensen gets more than he's bargined for. It isn't simple, they don't trust him and he has to deal with the lead detective, Jared Padalecki to top it all off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Past

 

Jensen was tugging on his tie thanking whatever god was on his side tonight. Ten minutes left of his shift and he’d be out of commission for the night. He pulled the cruiser to a stop at a red light ignoring the sound of rain pelting the roof of the car and sighed with the radio crackled to life.

“Until 23-19, we’ve got reports of a double homicide six blocks from your current location.”

Jensen rubbed at his eyes and stared out the windshield as he picked up the radio unit, “23-19 in route to scene.”

Jensen flipped the siren and lights on and checked before pulling through the intersection and tearing through the streets. He was maneuvering around a car that pulled off onto the side of the street as well as they could manage.

Within seconds Jensen couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t hear anything as the seat belt pulled tighter against his chest and glass shattered along the side of his face. The pressure and the force had him screaming before everything stopped. The air rushed out of the car, his head knocked against the door and water poured into the car.

Black spots dotted his eyes and he stared at the seatbelt buckled the trapped him in the sinking car. The water was freezing against his chest and he worked against the belt. He reached out towards the glove compartment hoping to find something to cut himself free but his fingertips were the only thing to brush the plastic. He choked as he inhaled a lungful of water.

The water was rising too fast, gulping one last breath before his head was underwater Jensen kept working at the seatbelt. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t see. He was choking on water as his fingers stopped digging at the seatbelt.

 

Present

It was hot, muggy and way too crowded for people to be crowding the sidewalks of the Quarter like they were. Jensen tugged at his tie and wiped his palms on his charcoal slacks before crossing the rain dampened street with the rest of the lunch time crowd. The sound of thunder roaring across the sky had him stopping midstride and looking up at the dark sky just as water droplets started to fall against his face.

“Great,” Jensen let out a sigh before jogged the rest of the way across the street and towards the shelter one of the café’s so generously provided for three people but ten people tried to crowd beneath. Jensen barely had time to stop as his shoes slid on the slick of the pavement and he came to a stumbling halt against the back of a man who made it across the street before him. “Sorry, sorry.”

Jensen looked up to see amusement in hazel eyes just as he pulled an umbrella out of his backpack and shook the water from shaggy brown hair, “Not a problem man. We were all making a run for it.”

“Yeah,” Jensen looked up at the sky and shrugged on his jacket. He had four blocks to go and no umbrella. By the looks of it, it was just going to rain harder and he was already late. Fuck.

“No umbrella?”

“How could you tell?” Jensen asked.

“You put your suit jacket back on over your shirt when it’s ninety five degrees and that’s before humidity.” He dug around in his backpack before he handed over another umbrella. “It’s got a hole in it, had to buy a new one this morning but it’ll keep you dryer than running through this.”

“Thanks,” Jensen grinned his day was finally looking up.

“Not a problem.” Jensen watched as the man walked off. He finally stepped out into the rain with umbrella in hand.

Within the four blocks it took him to be standing in front of Ackles Investigations the bottom of his pants were soaked and his phone had rang several times in his pocket but he couldn’t be bothered to answer it. The cool air of the building had him shivering as he tucked the umbrella away and hung his jacket in the closet.

“Ackles!” Jensen rolled his eyes at the voice that yelled at him from three feet away from him. “I’ve been calling you for the past twenty minutes.”

“What was so important Cassidy?” Jensen looked up at the blonde who was leaning back in her chair, feet propped on her desk looking like the cat that just ate the canary.

“Local beat needs your expertise. They called asking for you personally.”

“What?” Jensen dropped the cell phone he had been trying to pull from his pocket onto the floor. He bent down to scoop it up when she snorted out a laugh.

“You might not want to do that when you’re around them. They already think that you’re a quack.”

“Who signs your checks?” Jensen raised a brow as he tried to fit the pieces of his phone back together. He let out a frustrated sigh before he gave her a helpless look.

She held up her hands and stood up to grab the phone from him, “I’m just saying. You do and know some freaky shit. Even for a person who makes a living around here. You made a believer out of me. You even made a believer out of some of those detectives that you used to work with. I’m assuming that’s why they called you in on this one.”

“Do you know what they’re calling about?” Jensen asked going over all the most recent newspaper articles that he had read. The only ones that stood out were the recent deaths that the local reporter had been trying to label a serial killing.

“I’m thinking it would be about all those pretty girls that have been making the paper. Local PD doesn’t want feds to come in and take over the case so they’re going what ever route they can to keep in with in their grubby little hands,” Katie shrugged, “But they wouldn’t give me any specifics. I’m just the lowly receptionist here at Ackles Investigations.”

Jensen smirked as she handing over his phone with narrowed eyes. “When do they want to talk to me?”

“They want to see you as soon as soon as you have time to head over there, boss.” She handed him the message that she took. Just as he was turning to leave the building again her hand wrapped around his wrist, “Look, Jensen, don’t let them mess with you. If you need to high tail it out of there, then you do it. Don’t pull your usual macho bullshit. I know how being in that place messes with you.”

“They’re just ghosts Cassidy,” Jensen looked down at her hand. “I’ve been stuck with them since I’ve been a kid.”

“I’m not talking about the ghosts, Jensen.”

 

Jensen stepped through the metal detectors with his eyes closed. One of the last times he had been in here he was lead out by the unit Chief with a harsh grip on his arm as the rest of the team he lead watched.

Walking into the precinct today felt just as bad today as it did leaving then. He could already feel their eyes on him as he picked up his watch, wallet and keys from the bin and started across the lobby. The only difference this time was it wasn’t just humans watching him, there was something otherworldly tracking him. As hard as he tried he couldn’t entirely ignore them. There were always going to be there.

A soft milky presence that matched his gait step for step and stopped next to him, Jensen forced smile at the officer stationed behind the check-in desk.

“Can I help you sir?”

“Yes, Jensen Ackles to see Detective Padalecki.”

“Jensen Ackles?” The officer repeated with a grinned before he shook his head. It had become a reaction that Jensen had gotten used to.

“The Jensen Ackles?” Jensen ignored the voice next to him and focused on the person in front of him. The presence seemed to be picking up more energy as it grew excited at the prospect of who he had attached himself too. “No way, they aren’t going to believe that I’m actually talking to you.”

Jensen nodded and pointed towards the plastic chairs across from the booth, “I’ll just go sit over there and you let me know when I can head back to see the detective.”

“Sure thing, Ghostbuster.” The officer rolled his eyes as he picked up his phone. Jensen rubbed a hand over his mouth and sat down heavy. He jumped when the ghost sat next to him with a laugh.

“So you can really see us?” Jensen felt a rush of cold brush over his knee before that laughter burst out again. “No way! I can touch you. Do you know how many fakes I tried this on before you showed up? They would just sit there like Lindsey Lohan in court, clueless face and all. And here you are, real as day!”

“Can you be quiet for three seconds?” Jensen muttered under his breath. He smiled up at a lady who passed him with a confused smile on her face. “They already think I’m crazy around here.”

“Sorry about that man. It’s just I’ve wanted to talk to someone for so long.” Jensen watched out of the corner of his eyes at the milky substance started to gain color and he let out a groan. This wasn’t going to be good. The last time this happened he had a spirit stuck with him for weeks before it moved on. He watched as dirty blonde hair filled in followed by a Saints jersey, khaki shorts and flip flops. God how Jensen hated the sound of flip flops on ghosts.

“Oh man, this is so awesome! This was my favorite jersey. Too bad he isn’t part of the team anymore.” Jensen watched as a pair of flip flops wiggled in front of him, “And my favorite flops!”

“Ackles!” Jensen looked up at his name and saw the officer waving him over to the desk. He headed over and ignored the sound of flip flops walking beside him. “You can head back. You know the way?”

Jensen ignored the cruel smile with a nod. He headed back through the maze of hallways before he got to the bull pen. He stared at the cubicles of desks before he walked around the outside perimeter of it.

“Jared!” A voice yelled out and Jensen rolled his eyes. Chris Kane. It wasn’t hard to recognize the voice anywhere. Not after all the desperate yelling that happened between the two of them before he was escorted off the premises. “Your specialist is here!”

“Where is he?” Jensen tracked the voice to its own and snorted when he spotted him. The tall guy he rain into earlier in the rain. The spark of recognition was just as instantaneous in those hazel eyes as Jensen moved between desks to introduce himself to the detective.

“Jensen Ackles,” Jensen introduced himself.

“Detective Jared Padalecki,” Jared held his hand out and Jensen grasped it, “We met earlier right?”

“Yeah,” Jensen nodded, “Thanks for the umbrella. I would have been soaked.”

“Not a problem,” Jared waved it off before he gestured for Jensen to follow him. “So you’re a private investigator?”

“Amongst other things,” Jensen answered. He already had a feeling that Jared didn’t contact his office because he was a PI but he did it because of his other qualifications.

“That’s why I called you. You’re the area’s occult specialist and the more we think about it, the more it seems like a possibility that you could help us out.” Jared stopped just outside of a conference room and turned to face Jensen. “Christian Kane suggested we contact you about this, although he was extremely hesitant about doing so. He mentioned that you used to be a cop?”

“Yeah,” Jensen glanced across the bullpen and caught Christian’s eye. “He didn’t tell you anything else?”

“You left about two years ago, it wasn’t the most pleasant of ways to have left but you’ve done well for yourself I’ve come to understand.” The detective shrugged.

“Apparently people don’t care if you’re crazy as long as you find their dead kid.” Jensen answered softly. “So are you going to let me see what is going on or are you going to talk all afternoon?”

 

Jared pushed open a door and gestured for Jensen to head in first. The second Jensen stepped through the door he stopped cold in his steps, staring at all the photos tacked up to the wall. It felt so cold looking at the photos, the words scribbled out on a white board marking out a possible time line for two victims. Jensen closed his eyes. This was the worst part of who he was. A cold pressure pressed down on his shoulder. He looked over to see his newfound ghost friend trying to comfort him with wide eyes.

Jensen stepped closer towards the pictures. His eyes racing over what he was seeing. Two women who were both brunette and blue eyed. Their throats slit and bodies posed. Jensen tugged almost identical photographs of the women down and sat at the table. They were positioned against a wrought iron fence. Their face was tilted back towards the sky, skin clean and their palms facing upwards. Jensen bent down closer to the photos. There was a marking along the crook of their elbow, a cut along their wrists. There was something artistic about how it was done.

“When were they killed?” Jensen asked placing the photos back were they belonged in the sequence that they had been tacked up. He turned to face the detective and frowned at the way he was being watched.

“They were killed a month a part from each other. The first victim, Acadia Bruin was killing in May and the second Lydia Boudreaux was killed in June.”

Jensen nodded, “When exactly were they murdered. I need dates and times of death if I’m going to be able to help you Detective.”

“Are the times of death really that important?” Jared asked stepping closer to Jensen looking towards the pictures.

“For this,” Jensen pointed towards one of the pictures of terrified eyes facing upwards, then he pointed towards the words painted against the crook of her elbow, “It’s extremely important Detective.”

“Acadia was murdered May twenty-seventh and Lydia was murdered June twenty-sixth.” Jared licked his lips and watched as Jensen closed his eyes in thought.

“Acadia’s time of death?” Jensen scratched the side of his head, “Close to midnight?”

“How’d you figure?”

Jensen ignored Jared’s question and asked the next one that came to mind, “The same with Lydia?”

Jared nodded in response and waited for some kind of explanation from Jensen.

“It was a full moon,” Jensen muttered, “It’s a starting point.”

“How is the time of death and a full moon a starting point?” Jared sat down at the conference room table looking at Jensen. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched Jensen kick out one chair before turning back take another look at the picture one of the crime scene techs had taken of the girls’ elbows.

“Because there is more to this world than you can even begin to know, Detective.” Jensen whispered before he tugged the photo off the wall. “I need a copy of this, actually all of these.”

“I have a file ready for you.” Jared rolled his lips together watching Jensen. He moved to the opposite end of the table and grabbed a brown case and slid it over to Jensen.

“Thanks,” Jensen nodded, “Those words on their arms, have any of your men figured out what they mean?”

“As far as we can tell it’s a language or some kind of code specific to the killer.” Jared ran his fingers through his hair heaving out a frustrated sigh. “We do know that it was tattooed into their skin hours before their death.”

“Fresh tattoos,” Jensen murmured. “It wasn’t just by chance they had been recently tattooed?”

“No, both families said neither woman had any tattoo.”

“What about friends?”

“Checked with them too and got the same answer.”

“I figured,” Jensen nodded as he gathered his copy of the files a plan of where to start getting his information. “I have another case I’m working on so I really need to get back to my office and finish it up. Just a few calls and then tonight I have a few places I can go to start working on this.”

“If you need me too I can go with you.”

Jensen snorted, “The places I’m going tonight aren’t going to welcome a NOPD detective with open arms. They’ll more than likely try to kill you.”

Jensen tucked the folder under his arm and looked out the corner of his eye. His companion was looking down at the floor as he thrust his hand out, “I’ll be in touch Detective.”

“I’m sure you will.” Jared moved out the conference room and stood next to Chris Kane. He watched as Jensen made his way through the bull pen. The man avoided touching anyone or thing and the entire time his lips moved as if he were speaking to someone who wasn’t there.

“What are you thinking?”

“Someone needs to follow our local occult specialist wherever he goes tonight.”

Chris folded his arms over his chest watching Jensen curiously as the PI held the door open a few seconds before walking through it himself. “He’ll know that he’s being followed. He always did back when he was a cop and now, he’ll catch on even faster.”

“What happened to him?”

Chris rolled his lips together before running his fingers through his hair, “He got in a wreck. He wasn’t the same when he got out the hospital.”

 

~*~

“You know he’s going to have you followed tonight. He always has his people follow someone. Talk about creeper.”

“Then he’s going to be in for a rude awakening,” Jensen muttered as he stepped through his companion. “Dude, watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry, I’m kind of new at this walking with humans thing.” He answered.

“What’s your name anyways?” Jensen asked as he continued walking.

“Chad,” the ghost shrugged. “Chad something or another. At least that’s what I think it was. Doesn’t really matter anyways right? I’m D-E-D. Dead.”

Jensen could help but laugh at the sad attempt for a joke. “Okay then. So you’re hanging with me for a while?”

“You’re Jensen Ackles, why the fuck not?” Chad grinned before he noisily walked beside Jensen. Jensen had worse ghosts tag along with him. Maybe this time Chad could be useful.

 


	2. Chapter Two

“You know he’s going to have you followed tonight. He always does.”

“Then he’s going to be in for a rude awakening,” Jensen muttered as he stepped through his companion. “Dude, please watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry, I’m kind of new at this walking with humans thing.” He answered with a casual shrug.

“What’s your name anyways?” Jensen asked as he continued walking.

“Chad,” the ghost shrugged. “Chad something or another. At least that’s what I think it was. Doesn’t really matter anyways right? I’m D-E-D. Dead.”

Jensen could help but laugh at the sad attempt for a joke. “Okay then. So you’re hanging with me for a while?”

“You’re Jensen Ackles, why the fuck not?” Chad grinned before he noisily walked beside Jensen. Jensen had worse ghosts tag along with him. Maybe this time Chad could be useful.

~*~

“You know,” Chad yelled over the sounds of the night club. “You don’t exactly fit in around this place.”

Jensen snorted. That was an understatement. He was here in his work clothes while the rest of the people were decked out in glitter, tight clothes that made his eyes ache with how bright they were and neon necklaces and bracelets decorating their bodies.

“It wasn’t the point to fit in,” Jensen shrugged as he shouldered his way passed the bar and into one of the back rooms. He ignored the moans and the way bodies pressed and moved against each other when a head popped up and scented him.

“Jensen,” A bald headed man pulled away from a group with a serene smile on his lips. Neon dotted in between the leather bands on his arms and. “To what do I owe the dubious pleasure of seeing you here.”

“I have a few questions,” Jensen placed a hand over his mouth and ducked his head at the sounds that brushed along his skin. “I was hoping you could answer some of them for me.”

“Anything for you, just let us head into my office so I can actually breathe,” He fanned his face before leading Jensen through a maze of hallways.

“Where’s he bringing you? His lair?”

Jensen snorted, “With Mike, anything is possible.”

“Oh please tell me you haven’t brought a tag-along with you. I do hate that there’s a third man in the room and I don’t get to ogle the goodies.”

“Believe me you’re not missing out on anything, Mike.” Jensen snorted when a cool mist brushed over the back of his head. He waited for Mike to settle in one of the overstuffed leather chairs before taking a stool that had been tucked into the corner.

“So, what do you seek oh wise one?” Mike lips curled upwards.

“There were a couple of murders the past two months. Both were women and they both were killed at the peak of the full moon.” Mike’s mouth dropped open and rage crossed his face faster than Jensen thought was possible. Jensen stood up with his hands in the air. Being in a room with a snarling werewolf was not his idea of a good time. Especially since all he had for back up was a ghost who was hiding behind the desk. “I know it wasn’t one of your guys. It couldn’t have been because there were no bite marks.”

“I was about to say if you’re going to come into my house and accuse my pack of killing humans I doubt anyone would have been able to identify your body. Not even that bitch of yours that you keep.”

“I doubt Katie would enjoy that title,” Jensen mumbled and Mike shook his head amused with Jensen.

“So what exactly do you want to know?”

“I have some pictures of the bodies. The girls were posed looking towards the moon and there’s writing on their arms just above the elbow. Same exact lettering and I was hoping you might recognize anything in it.”

“Let me see it,” Mike held out a hand and Jensen dug a file from his bag and handed it over to the man. He listened to Mike make a few noises before the werewolf looked up at him.

“Who ever did this might be trying to pin this on one of my wolves because of the full moon but this looks more like a ritual. There’s something behind this.”

“I know that already,” Jensen muttered as he rubbed a hand over his eyes.

“What do you mean you know it’s a ritual?” Chad asked while Mike asked, “What kind of ritual? Are you trying to test me?”

“I know it’s a ritual because of how she was posed. The hands, palms faced upwards along with her face. It’s saying something, we both understand that. But what role did the moon play? Why did they choose that night for both murders? That’s important. What do those words mean? I need to be able to start somewhere. You understand that.”

“The words,” Mike tapped on the photo that was perched on his leg. “I understand them.”

“What do they mean?”

“Death welcomes me.” Mike shrugged. “It’s written out in a supernatural code, which I’m sure you already suspected that something supernatural did this. You know with the full moon, the ritual and so on.”

“Does everyone know the code?”

“Just the top of the food chain around here. Alphas, the heads of clans, people like that.” Mike shrugged. “I’m surprised you don’t know even a little bit of it being that you’re the only one of your kind. With the whole seeing ghosts and all.”

“I used to be a cop and I’m now a private investigator, Mike. I’m not welcome in either the supernatural community or the human world. No one is going to take the time to teach it to me.” Jensen shrugged and held out a hand for the pictures. He stuffed everything back in his bag and stared at the wolf in front of him. “Thank you.”

“Don’t see where I helped you any but you’re welcome.”

“I know what rituals to start researching, what people to start looking and who not to bother any more,” Jensen smirked. “Go back to your fan club.”

“You could stay. You need someone to ruffle those feathers of yours.”

“No,” Jensen shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s a bad idea just with me being here but with my tag along and the police issued tail, not worth it.”

~*~

“So,” Chris eyed the sweaty detective as he stepped out of the club moments after Jensen and settled in the passenger seat of the blacked out SUV, “See anything interesting in there?”

“Besides too much neon and Jensen effectively disappearing for about forty five minutes? Not really.”

“Who’d he talk to?”

“Bald guy,” Jared watched Jensen stop and say something before waving a hand in the air and continue walking. “I’m pretty sure it was Mike, the guy who owns the place.”

“Do I even want to know how you know who owns Emerald City?” Chris cocked a brow at his partner.

“No, you really don’t.” Jared looked up at the star dotted sky taking a deep breath of the night air.

“So we still following him or are we done for the night?” Chris asked over the idling engine.

“No point. Let’s just head back to the station so I can get my car and head home for the night.” Jared rested his face against the window and sighed. Jensen Ackles was one strange man. “He talks to himself a lot.”

“He’d tell you different,” Chris murmured as he guided the SUV through a U-Turn.

“Why did he get fired from the PD? When I looked up specialists it showed his history as nearing the lieutenant rank. That’s why I chose him. He was good at his job. He had everyone’s respect at the precinct. What made all of that change?”

“You really want to know who you brought in to help you on your case?” Chris asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah, I kind of do seeing as it’s going to be my ass on the line if this gets screwed up.”

“Jensen Ackles was one of the best detectives New Orleans had. Then one night it was raining like a fucking hurricane was about to blow through. He caught a homicide nine minutes before his shift ended. He checked in on route to the crime scene but he never made it there. He ended up stuck in his patrol car while it sunk to the bottom of the Mississippi. They pulled him out and then he was declared DOS. As soon as they had moved him into the body bag he was,” Chris rubbed a hand over his eyes, “Water went everywhere and he was making the most horrible sounds. He wasn’t the same after that. That’s who you have on your case, Padalecki.”

~*~

“Jensen Ackles,” Katie leaned across his desk scattering his notes to the floor, “Is it true?”

“Is what true?” Jensen grunted as he scooted his chair back to pick up the mess she made.

“That you went to see the king of Emerald City last night and you were spotted in his office for quite some time.”

“She trying for hot gossip but she ain’t getting any with you man,” Chad snorted as he circled the desk eyeing Katie. He whistled in appreciation at her knee high boots and looked back at Jensen. “I so wish I were alive. I’d tap that.”

“Just so you know, there’s a ghost who wishes he were alive so he could, let me quote ‘tap that’.”

Katie rolled her lips together and looked around the office trying to pinpoint where the invisible ghost was before shrugging, “He cute?”

“Think, flip flops and Saints.”

“It’s a no go, even if you were alive.” Katie informed the room.

“Ouch, you’ve got an ice queen on your hands. No wonder you were checking out Pada-what’s-his-name at the station.”

“I wasn’t checking him out.” Jensen muttered.

“So the new detective is something that makes your blood run hot?” Katie’s lips stretched into a wide grin.

“Does not,” Jensen shot back shuffling through his notes, “The local vampire nest locations, they still up to date?”

“You plan on going alone?” Katie quirked a brow at him.

“Nope, I’ve got back up.”

“Hopefully backup does not consist of only your newest sidekick. We both know that a ghost isn’t going to do jack shit for you if you run into trouble. A vat of holy water, maybe some hellfire if you could find some on short notice could be of some help.”

“I’ve got someone,” Jensen shrugged as the bell jingled and Katie gave him a disbelieving look before heading to the front to see who was there.

“Ackles! You’ve got a visitor and I’m sending him in.”

“I’m busy Cassidy,” Jensen growled and Chad chuckled.

“It’s your favorite detective and I don’t think he’s going to be coming back. He looks like he’s got some questions you need to answer,” Chad informed Jensen helpfully from his spot in the middle of the door way with a grin.

“Jensen,” Jared stopped just inside his office his hands holding a file that Jensen recognized all too well. His own. “Katie said I could just head in.”

“Sure she did,” Jensen muttered under his breath before gesturing for Jared to take a seat. “So what can I help you with detective?”

“Have you come up with any information or ideas yet?”

Jensen rolled his lips together and eyed the tension in the detective’s shoulders, the way he held himself straight backed. “I figured out what the words on their arms mean. It was done in code.”

“If they were done in code how do you know what they mean?”

“Death welcomes me, in case you were wondering what it meant.” Jensen bit on his lower lip. “I have access to a part of this city you don’t and you hope to never become exposed to. That’s how I know what those words mean.”

“You gotta give me more than that man,” Jared leaned back in his chair. “There’s got to be some kind of documentation that’ll back up what you’re saying so I can bring it to my partner and into the investigation.”

“I can’t,” Jensen shrugged.

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I mean that the code isn’t documented. Anywhere. It’s a code for a reason. It’s a way for people to communicate with each other without people like you finding out about them. They learn how to write and read it but it’s virtually non-existent.”

“People like me,” Jared’s jaw ticked in annoyance at Jensen’s choice of words, “What exactly do you mean by that? The fact that I’m a cop?”

“There’s a little more to it,” Jensen rolled his eyes. “But that’s the general gist of it.”

“Why did you go to Emerald City last night?”

“Why did you feel the need to follow me,” Jensen shot back.

“You know exactly why I followed you.” Jared tossed to file he had been holding onto Jensen’s desk.

“Because you can’t trust me to do the job I said I’d do,” Jensen’s eyes went cold as he stood up, “You can’t believe everything you read in a file, Padalecki.”

“Maybe I should take you off the case. Pay you for the time that you put in and be done with it.”

“It won’t stop me from working this case.” Jensen growled out as Jared stood up and leaned over into his space.

“What do you know about these murders that I don’t?”

“The world is a lot more dangerous than mad men with guns and knives.”

“It doesn’t get much more dangerous than that.”

Jensen shook his head in disbelief, “I have work to do detective.”

Chad whistled as Jared tore out of the office and the front door slammed, “Someone isn’t happy with you, Ackles. I’ll even bet he’s going to put a tail on you until he’s positive he wants to take you off the case or not.”

“He won’t take me off the case,” Jensen muttered as he piled up his files and started stacking them in his pack.

“Why are you so sure of that?” Chad questioned.

“He thinks I’m a suspect now,” Jensen ground his teeth together. “Cassidy! I need addresses for the local nests. I’m heading out before sun down. I want to hit em’ all before sun up.”

“You’re serious about this?” Katie parked a hip on the edge of the door frame and held a piece of paper tight in her hands. Jensen pulled at the paper and had to tug it from her fingers.

“Very.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing. I don’t want to head down to the morgue to identify your body.”

~*~

 

“You know,” Chad started as he crept along the side of a dying warehouse with Jensen. “Vampires, they have a creepy persona because of this shit. Living in squalor and eating people. That’s why other supernaturals won’t go near em’.”

“How did you know that?” Jensen narrowed his eyes at the ghost who was looking more human like by the day.

“Don’t know, I just do.” Chad shrugged and he shushed Jensen. “They’re waking.”

Jensen wasted little time working the lock and door open. He slipped inside with quiet steps. They were already feeding. Red running down pale white skin. Dark eyes rolled up towards the ceiling in pleasure. Groans came from both human and vampire.

“You are not welcome here,” The words came out in a hiss and Jensen stood firmly as he watched the vampire move closer. “You are not one of us.”

Jensen waited until the darkness pulled away to reveal the sharp features of a vampire he knew well before he knew about this side of the world, “What? No welcome to the dark side?”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Misha, we both know once you’re in this world you’re gone from any other you were ever a part of.”

“But you know better than to come near us.” Misha circled Jensen. “You only venture to our part of the world when you want something. So what is it that you want so badly that you risked your own life in the process?”

“Death welcomes me,” Jensen spoke the words clearly and watched as Misha recoiled from them. “You know them.”

Misha pulled at Jensen’s arm and tore the sleeve upwards, “You’ve been marked.”

“No,” Jensen waited a moment for Misha’s eyes to widen before he tugged his arm away. “But two women were and they have been murdered.”

“You need to leave,” Misha glanced over his shoulder before looking back to Jensen, “You need to get away from this case.”

“Why?”

“If you don’t you will end up just like they did or it’ll be worse.” Misha cocked his head to the side as if he heard something that Jensen hadn’t. “Don’t become the next one.”

“You know who is doing this?”

“Just rumors,” Misha closed his eyes and his lips dropped open. Jensen knew that look. Misha had scented something and he needed to get out. He couldn’t yet. He needed more. “Members of a clan gone rogue.”

“Why do they do this?” Jensen pulled out a photo and watched as Misha took it all in. “Why do they pick women and why do they pose them during a full moon?”

“It’s a message.” Misha bit out.

“To who?”

Misha didn’t answer Jensen’s question. Instead he bared his fangs and shoved Jensen against the wall. An arm pressed against his wind pipe. “You brought a human here. How stupid can you get, Jensen?”

“Didn’t bring anyone,” Jensen choked out, his eyes going to where Misha was staring. It was dark and he could barely make out the form pressed against the shadows. He knew that height, the bulk of the muscle. It was burned in his mind the moment he ran into the man making a run for shelter. “Fuck me.”

“Who is he?” Misha backed off and started towards the shadows. “Why did he follow you?”

Jensen reached out his hand wrapping around Misha’s wrist. He knew he didn’t contain any means of stopping the vampire but he needed the second to explain. “He’s working with me.”

“Get your hand off of me, Jensen. We aren’t the humans we used to be. I will kill you without a second thought.”

“You touch him and I will kill you.” Jensen growled with his hand stretched out in the air in front of him. Misha’s steps stopped and the air turned cold around him.

“Oh Jenny,” Misha’s lips stretched into a wide grin. “I knew you had more than just seeing ghosts in you.”

“Everyone has their secrets.” Jensen ignored the bright white wisps of smoke that were gathering form around Misha. “And these guys are tired of being yours.”

“What will they do Jensen?” Misha pressed forward. “Freeze me to death? I’m already dead.”

“They will rip you limb from limb.”

“Leave while you can,” Misha’s fangs were out in plain view, footsteps echoing further back in the shadows.

“Go,” Chad’s voice was in his ear. “The rest are coming. You need to go now.”

Jensen took off toward the doorway. He reached out to grab Jared’s shirt and they were both running towards the car. Jensen closed his eyes at the sound of pain filled howls echoing around the building.

“What is that?” Jared yelled over his shoulder sliding into Jensen’s car without question. Jensen looked over his shoulder and saw Misha coming out of the warehouse. “What just happened?”

Jensen waited until he was blocks away and the vampire was nowhere insight. He looked over to Jared. The detective’s hands were gripping the door handle with a white knuckled grip and wide eyes. “Where are we going?”

“The only place that’ll keep us safe for the night,” Jensen answered.

“And where is that?”

“My place.”


	3. Chapter 3

Jared followed Jensen up the stairs and across the wooden porch without a word. Jensen was really wondering when Jared’s actual freak out would begin. He made it all the way into the kitchen and halfway through a cycle of coffee before Jared started.

“He kept saying human.” Jared ran his fingers through sweaty hair. “Why’d he say that you brought a human along with you?”

“I knew he’d crack,” Chad cackled and Jensen rolled his eyes.

“Because that’s what you are Jared. You are a human. Misha isn’t.”

“What do you mean Misha isn’t a human?”

“I told you there were things more dangerous out there besides mad men with guns.”

“What did you do? You did something that stopped him. Whatever he is. What did you do?”

“Misha’s a vampire,” Jensen answered bluntly. “And I, well if you have enough ghosts in your past they can do more than just haunt you.”

“This isn’t possible.”

 

“You saw it as well as I did,” Jensen shrugged. “You watched him feed.”

“He could be just really freaky,” Chad suggested and Jensen really wanted to smack the ghost upside the head.   
“Say I believe this and it’s not some kind of messed up dream,” Jared swallowed down a gulp of coffee and winced from the burn of it. “You really see ghosts? There are vampires out there?”

“There are a lot more than vampires out there, Jared.” Jensen ran a hand over his face. He plucked the empty mug from Jared’s hands and set it in the sink. “You need sleep. The bathroom is the first door on the left. I’ll get the pull out ready for you.”

Jensen watched as Jared spun around dizzily before anger slipped over the fear, “You expect me to just sleep after all of this? After finding out that the freaking monster under the bed is pretty much real? Hah, no. I don’t think so. I deserve more of an explanation than ‘vampires are real, you’re a human, and there are killer ghosts and go to sleep Jared’; it doesn’t work that way Jensen.”

“Go shower Jared,” Jensen rolled his lips together, “Get your head on straight and then I’ll answer any questions you have.”

“Don’t think that I’m not going to ask you a shit ton of questions. Because you giving me time to think them up is a bad idea.”

Jensen shook his head as he headed into the kitchen, “Bathroom is the first door on the left. I’ll find something you can wear.”

Jensen had just enough time to set a set of gym shorts and an oversized shirt out for Jared after he had gotten the pullout set up. He grabbed a glass of water and sat down on the recliner as he waited for Jared to come back into the living room. When he heard the detective pad back into the room he looked up to catch Jared yawning behind a hand and smirked. He wouldn’t be answering many questions tonight.

“So there are vampires,” Jared sprawled on the bed and stared up at the ceiling as he spoke, “And apparently there are ghosts – what else is there out there?”

“Well werewolves,” Chad answered even though Jared couldn’t hear him, “And then there are some really nasty creatures. Like pluck your teeth from your mouth and eat babies for breakfast kind of nasty.”

“Not helping,” Jensen rubbed a hand over his eyes.

“What’s not helping?” Jared looked at Jensen like the man had lost his mind. “Me?”

“Uh no, the ghost that I’ve picked up from the station.” Jensen waved Jared’s impending questions off and answered the first one. “There are werewolves, incubi, succubae, demons are real. The list goes on Jared.”

“How do we not know about them? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Humans don’t know about the supernatural because there is an underground community and networks within your own world that keeps everyone off the radar. If something bad happens, like say a werewolf killing a human, there are ways to deal with the crime. There are people who clean up the mess, punish the being that committed the crime and they make sure everything goes away before the police get wind of it.”

“You make it sound like the mob,” Jared threw an arm over his eyes and yawned again. Jensen remained quiet until Jared asked his next question. “How is it even possible that we, that humans, don’t know about this world?”

“When you have a secret you don’t want the world to know about because you know that they wouldn’t accept you, that they would rather kill or experiment on you it gets real easy to keep a secret.”

“And you,” Jared rolled onto his side looking at Jared. “You weren’t always like this? Were you?”

“Dying does funny things to a person.” Jensen answered softly. He ignored the way Jared sleepily stared at him. It almost felt intimate. All the belief and the fact that he was trying to understand the world that Jensen had so unwillingly been thrown into was all too much for him to handle. He clicked the lamp off and headed for his own room with a soft goodnight.

~*~

 

Waking up at six in the morning after a night like Jensen had last night just wasn’t fair. Waking up with a ghost sitting on the end of his bed and sunlight pouring through the windows had him pulling the covers over his head with a tired groan. “Go away. Jensen doesn’t live here anymore.”

“Tell that to the honey passed out on your sofa bed,” Chad snorted.

“So it was real,” Jensen threw the covers back with a heavy sigh and stared at the grinning ghost.

“Real as I am,” Chad stretched out on his back and stared up at the ceiling. “You know, you should probably get some coffee going. It won’t be long before the detective wakes up and has his freak out.”

Jensen frowned, “I don’t want to explain it all over again.”

“Well think of it this way,” Chad offered another line of thought to Jensen. “Now that Jared knows vampires are real, amongst other things, maybe he’ll stop thinking you’re the murderer and you can actually let him in on the investigation.”

‘You say that like it’s my case.”

“It kind of is. You’re the fountain of knowledge on the dark side of the moon.” Chad shrugged before disappearing from the room. Jensen rolled on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow hoping he could hide from the world a little longer. He gave up after a few minutes and the dull throb of a bad night of sleep wrapped around his forehead. The house was quiet except the soft whirr of the air conditioner cooling the house.

Jensen stepped softly through the living room, only pausing momentarily to see if Jared was actually getting any rest. The detective was sprawled out across the sofa bed; his arms thrown over his head and his face half turned into the pillow. Jensen eyed the line of toned muscle. The briefest feeling of want swirled in his gut before he shook the feeling away and headed into the kitchen.

Starting coffee was automatic. Rummaging through the fridge and cabinets for something edible wasn’t as easy. He wasn’t a breakfast person. He normally grabbed a granola bar and ate it on his way to the office. This morning, Jensen had a feeling he’d need more than a few cups of coffee and a granola bar.

“S’that coffee I smell?” The voice was raw with sleep and brushed straight down Jensen’s spine.

“Just about done,” Jensen nodded as he moved to grab two mugs from the cabinets. He leaned against the counter and watched as Jared settled down at the table with his face resting in his hands. “You sleep alright?”

“Had a few odd dreams,” Jared shrugged, “But I figure that’s got to be normal for someone who just figured out there’s a whole different world out there.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“It makes sense though,” Jared leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh, “There are so many cases that didn’t make sense but if people knew about vampires or werewolves or whatever the heck else there is out there, those cases might have been solved.”

“There’s not much you can do about it man.”

“But I should be able to,” Jared snapped. “It’s my job to figure out what happened. So they can be put to rest.”

“You’d put me out of a job man,” Jensen poured two cups of coffee. He left his black and gestured to the sugar tin on the table. “I’ve got sugar and milk. I take my coffee black.”

“Sugar, lots of sugar,” Jared murmured to himself as he fixed his coffee up right. Jensen sat quietly watching Jared as he sipped on the steaming coffee. Sometime in the next few minutes Jared would probably lose his shit and he’d be the one to fix the detective all better again. Even if he didn’t know precisely how to do that.

Jensen had just started his second cup when Jared spouted off, “You think it’s vampires killing these girls, don’t you?”

Jensen choked on the mouthful of coffee he had and patted his chest hoping to make the hurt better. He looked up at Jared with wide eyes. Of course the detective would have connected the dots.

“Well?” Jared leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. “If it’s not vampires it’s something else supernatural. So what are you thinking? Where should I start looking?”

“You don’t look anywhere Jared,” Jensen held up a hand to stop the flood of words begging to leave the man’s lips. “You were there last night, same as I was. Working any homicide like this is dangerous. You add some kind of supernatural creature to the mix it’s worse. But you? You hardly know anything about vampires.”

“And you do?” Jared’s face was lined with anger.

“Yeah,” Jensen took a deep breath, “I do.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Just keep pretending that I don’t know about these things and work the case like it’s a person killing these girls? They’ll never get the justice they deserve. The thing that killed them will still be out there able to kill more people.”

“Whoever killed them won’t get away with it Jared. Sooner or later the rest of the vampires will be clued into what’s going on if they haven’t already and they’ll be searching too. Once the killer is found, they’ll be killed.”  
Jared snapped his fingers, “Just like that? Dead.”

“Their entire world is at risk because of this. If people found out vampires or the things people had nightmares about existed what do you think will happen, Jared?” Jensen leaned back in his chair.

“It just,” Jared rubbed his hands over his face, “I’m stuck right in the middle of both worlds. I know just enough that I could do something but I’m helpless because I’m a human.”

“I’d rather be human than supernatural,” Jensen murmured and ignored the curious look that Jared sent across the table.

“So I just go to work and keep acting like everything is like usual.”

“It’s all you can do.”

“Oh hell,” Jared stood up, “Speaking of work I’m going to be late. I need to get going.”

~*~

 

“Do I want to know what you were up to last night?” Chris gave Jared a sly grin as he rested his hip against the edge of Jared’s desk.

“What?” Jared’s head shot up, paranoia leeching through his skin.

“Dude,” Chris held up his hands, “You’re wearing the same outfit as yesterday. Was just messing with you, that’s all.”

“Well, I wasn’t doing what you were thinking,” Jared rubbed his eyes and had to hide the inappropriate grin that was threatening to break through. Unless his partner was dreaming about him and vampire, he wasn’t doing anything near what Chris was thinking.

“Don’t tell me you pulled an all nighter on the case, man,” Chris smacked Jared on the arm. “We need to be sharp, to stay on top of this. We don’t need to lose the momentum we have because someone’s too tired to stay focused.”

Jared shook his head as he stood up, “Thanks man, just what I needed for my already shitty day.”

“Jay,” Chris called out as Jared wound his way through the bull pen and towards the break room. “God damnit.”

The voice in Jared’s mind echoed Chris’s sentiment. Damn it all to whatever hell it belonged to. He scrubbed his hands through his hair in frustration. He was at a complete loss as what to do or how he should go about doing it. Whatever the hell it was. And what was he supposed to do about Jensen now? The specialist who was supposed to be only consulting was pretty much going to be working the case by his lonesome if the way he was speaking this morning meant anything. Fuck it. He had a specialist he needed to talk to.

 

~*~

“What’s up boss?” Katie chirped from her desk. She was currently reclining as much as she could in the leather chair with her feet propped up in front of her. Jensen smacked her feet off the desk and stomped towards his office. “Well who pissed in your Cheerio’s? Please tell me it’s not Detective tall dark and sexy?”

“The idiot followed me to Misha’s! And then he has the nerve not to freak out like I thought he would after I told him about what’s really going on in the world. Instead he just gets pissy, or I don’t know. He was more frustrated that he can’t really do anything about vampires killing people.” Jensen kicked at his desk before spinning around to face Katie.

She stood staring at Jensen with her mouth open, “You told him?”

“Fuck,” Jensen groaned. “And he just accepted it all.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Katie flopped down in one of the chairs across his desk and started to organize the loose papers in front of her. “You going to work together or what’s the deal?”  
“I don’t know,” Jensen grimaced.

“Well you kind of forgot an important piece of explaining everything didn’t you?”

“You think I don’t know that?” Jensen snapped at her before taking a deep breath, “Sorry.”

“It’s cool,” Katie shrugged, “Just you’re still a consultant on the case. What ever you find out legally has to be reported in some way to him. And he can’t just drop you as a consultant a few days after hiring you on. It’ll look bad on him and on you. You’re both wrapped up in this case and until people stop getting murdered you’re stuck with each other.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Do I want to know what you were up to last night?” Chris gave Jared a sly grin as he rested his hip against the edge of Jared’s desk.

“What?” Jared’s head shot up, paranoia leeching through his skin.

“Dude,” Chris held up his hands, “You’re wearing the same outfit as yesterday. Was just messing with you, that’s all.”

“Well, I wasn’t doing what you were thinking,” Jared rubbed his eyes and had to hide the inappropriate grin that was threatening to break through. Unless his partner was dreaming about him and vampire, he wasn’t doing anything near what Chris was thinking.

“Don’t tell me you pulled an all nighter on the case, man,” Chris smacked Jared on the arm. “We need you to be sharp, to stay on top of this. We don’t need to lose the momentum we have because someone’s too tired to stay focused.”

Jared shook his head as he stood up, “Thanks man, just what I needed for my already shitty day.”

“Jay,” Chris called out as Jared wound his way through the bull pen and towards the break room. “God damnit.”

The voice in Jared’s mind echoed Chris’s sentiment. Damn it all to whatever hell it belonged to. He scrubbed his hands through his hair in frustration. He was at a complete loss as what to do or how he should go about doing it. Whatever the hell it was. And what was he supposed to do about Jensen now? The specialist who was supposed to be only consulting was pretty much going to be working the case by his lonesome if the way he was speaking this morning meant anything. Fuck it. He had a specialist he needed to talk to.

 

“What’s up boss?” Katie chirped from her desk. She was currently reclining as much as she could in the leather chair with her feet propped up in front of her. Jensen smacked her feet off the desk and stomped towards his office. “Well who pissed in your Cheerio’s? Please tell me it’s not Detective tall dark and sexy?”

“The idiot followed me to Misha’s! And then he has the nerve not to freak out like I thought he would after I told him about what’s really going on in the world. Instead he just gets pissy, or I don’t know. He was more frustrated that he can’t really do anything about vampires killing people.” Jensen kicked at his desk before spinning around to face Katie.

She stood staring at Jensen with her mouth open, “You told him?”

“Fuck,” Jensen groaned. “And he just accepted it all.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Katie flopped down in one of the chairs across his desk and started to organize the loose papers in front of her. “You going to work together or what’s the deal?”

“I don’t know,” Jensen grimaced.

“Well you kind of forgot an important piece of the puzzle while you were explaining everything didn’t you?”

“You think I don’t know that?” Jensen snapped at her before taking a deep breath, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“It’s cool, I’m used to your bitch attacks,” Katie shrugged, “It’s just, you’re still a consultant on the case. What ever you find out legally has to be reported in some way to him. You could be putting him in danger with all of this. And you can’t not report in to him and he can’t drop you as a consultant a few days after hiring you on. It’ll look bad on him and on you. You’re both wrapped up in this case and until people stop getting murdered you’re stuck with each other.”

 

Jensen grimaced at the loud bang and rattle of the office door being jammed against the wall. He looked to Katie and she gave a low whistle as Jared stormed into his office with his hair a wild mess and his eyes dark with frustration.

“Detective,” Jensen spoke cautiously as Jared paced across the span of his office. “Everything okay?”

“Is everything okay?” Jared repeated before throwing his hands up in the air and smacking his palms down on the sides of his legs. “No, everything is not okay Jensen.”

“Would you like to tell me what’s going on?” Jensen asked cautiously, knowing that he could really be stepping in a pile of shit.

An amused laugh broke out across the room that only Jensen seemed to hear. He sent up a silent prayer. Please Chad, not now.

“It could be that there’s this tension between the two of you that is making him all rawr I’m going to eat you,” The ghost suggested with a shrug, “Or it could be the fact that you just shoved him out of his own investigation.”

Jared narrowed his eyes as he stepped close enough to Jensen he could poke him in the chest, “You know exactly what’s wrong.”

“See, I told you. He wants your body.” Chad snorted.

Jensen batted Jared’s hand away, “Really? Cause all I see is a pissed off Detective fuming in my place of business.”

“How about we start with the fact that there are vampires killing humans? Or the fact that you’re taking over my case, but no one is supposed to know about it? How is that even possible? It’s not and you know it. You’re still a consultant to the NOPD and I’m still the detective who needs to get someone for these murders. So where does that leave us Jensen?”

Jensen wet his lips and moved to sit behind his desk. He stacked his research, his notes on the case in neat little stacks buying himself time to come up with some kind of answer for the detective. “We keep working the case.”  
“Yeah? And how do you suppose we do that?”

“Not to be stepping on anyone’s toes but,” Katie smacked her lips together and a tight smile pulled across her lips, “How about you go about working the case together, like normal human beings.”

Jensen sputtered and Jared rolls his eyes at her suggestion. She followed up with a frustrated groan, “Detective Padalecki, go to work and work the case from your angle. Pull your investigation to places we know to deal with supernaturals. Jensen will do the same. That’s during the day. At night you two work together, meet each other here or where at? I don’t care. Just get it together, stop acting like chickens with your heads chopped off and solve the damn case. We don’t need to see anymore people dead because you two are too damn stubborn to work together.”

Everyone, Chad included stared at Katie. Jensen was surprised by the way she snarled and whipped them into shape. Jared was the first one to speak. “So where to we start?”

Cat like eyes looked towards Jensen for an answer and Jensen took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling as if it would give him some kind of guidance. He looked across the room at Jared, “Vampires. We start with vampires.”

 

“So what gave you the idea to come down to the Ninth Ward to see if something would turn up?” Chris scrunched his nose up and let his hand rest on the butt of his gun as they walked along the sidewalk that was broken up from tree roots. The Ninth Ward was known for its crime, right along with how down trodden the area was. It wasn’t a place a detective wanted to visit willingly.

“Five-Oh! We got Five-Oh!” Was yelled across the streets and Jared grimaced. Either people would be running back indoors or they’d be waiting to see what was going to happen next. Today it looked like people were gathering on the edges of the sidewalks.

Jared brushed by a group of guys and tried his best to ignore the long whistle one gave out, “We need to call WWL? Get a record of who you two knock the shit out of?”

Jared grabbed Chris’s shoulder when the man stopped and turned around to get a good look at the heckler. “You want to call WWL? Get yourselves on television?”

“Chris,” Jared warned.

“I’d listen to your girlfriend man.” A guy in an oversized red shirt folded his arms over his chest. “You don’t want to start something here. There are two of you and how many of us. I thought cops were supposed to be smart.”  
Jared’s fingers curled tighter around Chris’s shoulder and he spotted the one house that hadn’t anybody standing on the weed laden lawn. It didn’t even look like anyone lived there at all. Jared looked up and down the street and took in how almost every single yard had someone watching them, wondering what was going to happen now.

Jared nodded towards the house that had caught his eye, “You know if anyone lives there?”

“Just a bunch of freaks who don’t come out except in the middle of the night,” The guy in the red shirt shrugged. “Wouldn’t have known anyone lived there except Little Slim was shot on their front lawn and they all stood there staring at him.”

“How many of em’ live there you think?”

“Five or six. What you need to know about them for?”

Chris looked up at Jared curiously before he turned back towards the crowd of people that had started to gather around them. “We’re looking for some people. Got word that they might be hiding out down here.”

“What kind of people?”

“People that will get their own,” Jared answered fiercely. His tone had the group taking a step back away from them. He knew the kind of justice that the Ninth Ward dealt out if the police weren’t quick enough. If Jensen’s suspicions were right, their rogue vampires were hiding out in a place like this and if they weren’t careful more humans would die before the vampires were taken care of.

“I got you,” The guy gave Jared a wide smile. His teeth were capped in gold. “You’re the type that gets shit done around here.”

“That’s what we like to think,” Jared nodded. “Anything else you need us to check into?”

“Besides them freaks?” The man shook his head. “The rest we got under control.”

“See that that control keeps you breathing,” Chris pointed out.

“Thanks for your time.” Jared turned to head back to his truck. As soon as he was inside of it he cranked the air conditioner and rested back in the seat.

“So…would it have been Ackles who gave you the anonymous tip or are we just keeping it entirely anonymous?” Chris questioned as he tapped his fingers on the arm rest.

“It was Ackles. He said the area was known for more than just crime in his day.” Jared pulled out onto the street and grimaced when he rolled right over a pot hole and kept going.

“Voodoo and witchcraft,” Chris shrugged. “The fake kind of shit. You want the real magic you’ve got to hit the swamps.”

“Did you see that house?” Jared asked. “The one with no one on the lawn waiting to see what we were going to do?”

“Yeah I saw it. It looked like the rest of the places around here man. If anything there’s probably a few people living there and doing something illegal so why show your face to the cops unless you have to?”

“No,” Jared shook his head trying to ignore the part of his brain that was screaming Vampires at him. “There’s something more to that place.”

“Okay…” Chris trailed off leaving Jared to finish off his line of thought.

“No one sees them, hardly ever. You heard that guy – he didn’t even know someone was living there until someone was killed on their property.”

“We don’t have anything but a tip linking this place to our murders Jared. And it’s a tip of a former cop who is laughed at every time he shows up at the station. Do you really want to go digging into this?”

“I think we need to, even if it’s done just to prove that we’re heading in the wrong direction.”

“Fine we’ll request the files,” Chris held up his finger, “If the Captain comes down on us for getting random shit the blame is on you.”

“That’s fine.” Jared rolled his lips together in thought. If that was them how would the other side of the world deal with them? Why were they killing humans anyways? What would he do if it was them? Let the case go cold or? Well there was no or, there wasn’t anything he could do. “Let’s hit the station, get those files and go back over what we know. Maybe we’ll get somewhere.”

 

Jensen was dishing out the Chinese food he had bought when he heard the heavy knock on his front door. Three loud raps, he used to have that knock, a cops knock is what people called it.

“Coming,” Jensen called as he padded down the hallway and nudged the curtain back to make sure it was Jared. He flipped the locks and pulled the door open. “You find anything out today?”

“Hi Jensen, how are you?” Jared snarked as he moved towards the kitchen, “Good? Well that’s grand. I’m doing fine too.”

Jensen stared at Jared as he tossed files down on the counter and started to roll his sleeves up. “Okay, let me start over. Good to see you Detective. Would you like anything to drink? I’ve got Chinese food too.”

“See,” Jared ran his hands through his hair, “That’s how you should greet a person.”

“I interact with ghosts more than humans,” Jensen shrugged, “Niceties are forgotten by the dead.”

“Right,” Jared grabbed the Styrofoam boxes full of food and brought them to the couch without bothering to ask Jensen where they were eating. “Grab those files. I’ve got something to show you.”

“Think he’s like that in the bedroom?” Chad’s voice whispered into Jensen’s ear.

“Fuck!” Jensen nearly jumped out of his skin and dropped the forks grabbed along with the files in his hands.  
“What?” Jared stood up and looked around, “What is it?”

“Fucking Chad,” Jensen grumbled as he stooped to clean up the mess he made. “Think he gets off on showing up and scaring the living daylights out of me.”

“That’s the ghost right?”

“No, he’s my imaginary friend,” Jensen rolled his eyes as he made his way back over to the couch. He noticed Jared’s pinched lips and sighed. “Sorry man, had a long day at the office with this little ole biddy who thought her kid was ripping her off and turns out he was. Didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s cool,” Jared grabbed a fork and grinned out how Jensen had added and separated what was in the boxes. He gave Jensen a look that had the man rolling his eyes before they both dug in. “My day wasn’t the greatest either. Chris has been breathing down my neck about heading down to the Ward under your advice. And besides those files, we haven’t gotten anywhere in since you’ve stepped in.”

“So what’s in these files?” Jensen asked around a mouth full of sesame chicken. He flipped through the pages not really taking in much but the crime scene photos. “What that got to do with our case?”

“It happened in the Ninth Ward, approximately where you said I should check out.” Jared pulled the file out of Jensen’s hands and into his lap. He flipped through the pages until he found what he wanted. “These five people live at the house Little Slim was killed at. It happened two weeks ago around two in the morning. These people, who we conveniently have no statements from or last names for them. They have only been seen around the neighborhood a few times.”

“Let me guess?” Jensen speared a piece of chicken with his fork and popped it into his mouth. “Only at night?”

“And the property was purchased in May.” Jared showed Jensen another paper full of information.

“How was it purchased?” Jensen questioned.

“Paid for, completely upfront,” Jared tilted his head and bit at his lip. “Who does that?”

“Who buys a house in the Ninth Ward?” Jensen added. “Not anyone who can buy a house outright.”

“So what do we do?” Jared set his food down on the coffee table in front of the couch and leaned back with a content sigh. “How do we figure out if these are the people we’re looking for?”

“There are people we can ask.” Jensen checked his watch and frowned. “Not tonight.”

“Why not?” Jared glanced down at his watch trying to figure out why they couldn’t do anything now.

“It’s a full moon,” Jensen grabbed the nearly empty boxes of food and headed for the kitchen. “Never talk to a supernatural on a full moon.”


End file.
